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According to The Economist Democracy Index, Tunisia was at 2.79 during 2010 and by the end of 2011 they had climbed up to 5.53. Therefore Tunisia entered a new category, called hybrid regime. This was a step closer to a more democratic regime. Rustow Dankwart, Shain Yossi and Linz J. Juan would say that the interim government and the political actors within it had a significant impact on Tunisias increase in democracy index. Therefore the aim of this study took the shape of a theory consuming case study. The purpose of the study was to analyze the political actors and the interim government importance during the Tunisian democratic transition, with the delimitation to the year 2011. The results firstly showed us the categorization hardliners within the authoritarian coalition in combination with radicals in the oppositional coalition. During the second interim government the categorization changes from hardliners to softliners. During the third, we see a glint of moderates within the opposition. Secondly, the results showed us that there is evidence of an opposition-led, power-sharing and incumbent-led caretaker regime in Tunisia. The study discusses two conclusions about political actors during the transition. Firstly, the importance of radicals within the opposition and secondly the importance of the authoritarian coalition changing from hardliners to softliners, which allowed the country to transition. Within the categorization of the interim government we have come to the conclusion that the opposition-led government played a significant role in the Tunisian transition.

The Iraqi war represents a form of coercive diplomacy between words and war in the enforcement of international norms and is considered as a new and old notion at the same time. This holds true ever since the days of the Desert Storm: the war waged to liberate Kuwait. This mechanism was launched in 1990 under the title of the war to liberate Iraq or the punitive war, the core idea of which would correspond to the purposes and motivations of the 2003 war. This study begins with a review of the literature, both for background information and for the identification of variables of the events and factors in this issue. This war is analysed in relation to the US objectives in the region when it comes to maintaining its interests, ensuring security for its allies and dominating the whole region.

This studyinvestigates the controversy surrounding the case of 2003 war on Iraq, which is embodied in the plural reasons for the war. The situation in Iraq is of course still a subject for debate, as the country has experienced a stalemate for some years now. The study focuses on one chosen central research question; What was the real reason behind that war? The methodological triangulation approach adopted is about using different research methods to complement one another, in order for the findings to have validity and credibility. Relying upon conceptual analysis, critical review of relevant literature and concepts, political discourses analysis and also on primary data in the form of interviews with Iraqi elite experts of intelligence service and weapons experts, including the former top administrators who are linked to this issue, this thesis provides both facts and opinions which could be used as qualitative data. The aim of the variegated sources and material used for this study is to exemplify contending perspectives on the subject under study.

The findings of this study suggest that since the war lacks a strong moral base, it remains suspicious as a legitimate policy instrument to solve the problematic issue in Iraq. While the war came about during the reign of the Republicans and the foreign policy then adopted, as this study demonstrates, the repercussions are severe to this day. Coercive diplomacy can ultimately lead the region into enormous chaos, which may have dire consequences for the whole region, not only within Iraq.

The starting point of this study is theories of European integration, which are used to formulate different scenarios about the future of the European Union. This is made in regards to the eurocrisis which has intensified the discussion about how to change the construction of the euro to overcome the economic difficulties that has arisen. In this study, four different scenarios are presented: "An updated Europe", "A new Europe", "The death of the euro" and "Goodbye Greece". The first two scenarios takes its starting point in the neofunctionalist theory of European integration and describes how the EU might increase its level of integration in different ways. We can either see a development where the EU tries to improve the implementation of the rules that are meant to coordinate the member states’ economic policy, or we might encounter a more advanced integration where fiscal policy competences are transferred to the EU-level.

The latter scenarios, however, takes another theory in to account, liberal intergovernmentalism, and describes how the eurozone might be fragmented in different ways due to conflicts of interest between lenders and countries that has to receive loan-packages. In the third scenario the euro stands in front of a collapse. This is connected to a situation where Spain, which is one of the largest economies in the EU, is starting to have similar problems as countries like Grecce, Ireland and Portugal. The fourth scenario describes a more ordered progress where Grecce, as part of a joint decision with the other EU-members, decides to abolish the euro as their currency. This is a way for the EU to reduce its economic burden, in the same time as Greece are given an opportunity to use an independent monetary policy to cope with their problematic situation.

In May 2017 Sweden’s first cultural heritage bill was approved by Sveriges riksdag, Sweden’s national legislature. Before being approved of, the bill had received a great amount of attention in the public debate from different parties like the media, the civil society and the political parties. The cultural heritage bill is unique since it is the first time in Swedish history that cultural heritage policy has been presented through a separate bill by the government, instead of being part of a bigger cultural bill. This study will examine the bill closer with the help of the British philosopher Roger Scruton’s concept oikophobia. Examination is relevant because of the public debate surrounding the bill and because of the fact that oikophobia concerns inheritance and home. The aim of this study is more precisely to examine Sweden’s first cultural heritage bill through a qualitative text analysis in order to see if the bill is to be considered oikophobic. To accomplish the study, oikophobia as a concept is operationalized to be used as an analysis tool when analysing the empirical material in form of the cultural heritage bill. The results of the study show that the cultural heritage bill is to be considered oikophobic. It is considered oikophobic mainly because of its relativizing attitude towards the own cultural heritage and the own nation.

We live in a society where the importance of digitalisation grows in every day life as well as in the workplace. In this dissertation the development of the digitalisation of public administration is studied – this development is usually referred to as egovernment. The main focus of the analysis in this dissertation is to gain a better understanding of the meanings of values in these digitalisation processes in public organisations. Three qualitative, interpretative case studies make up the foundation for this analysis. The first case is an analysis of Swedish e-government policies. The two other cases focus on organisational practices in public administration; the County Council of Östergötland and the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. These case studies have been based on interviews, document studies and observations. Theoretically the analyses of the dissertation build on theories of public values, legitimacy and the interplay between organisation and technology. The analyses show which values are given importance in digitalisation processes and how digitalisation can affect basic democratic values in public organisations. The results of the dissertation can be summarised in three comprehensive conclusions: 1) The digitalisation of the public administration is context dependent and takes place in an interplay between technology, policy and administration and the specific values which constitute these different domains. 2) The development towards e-government comprises a multitude of values, and is inspired and shaped by different sets of values. 3) The digitalisation can influence the role of the democratic values in public organisations, and therefore affect the legitimacy of the public administration. The main contribution of this dissertation is a deeper understanding of what implications e-government reforms can have for the administrations democratic values and its legitimacy. Processes of digitalisation are not value neutral, but are booth shaped by and shape values in the interplay between technology, political goals and the administrations particular organisational forms. Hereby, awareness of the values of digitalisation becomes crucial when e-government reforms are initiated and carried out. Further research on how technology and public organisations shape each other can contribute to uphold the legitimacy of public administration in a digitalised world.

E-government is an area under strong development and the Swedish public administration is not an exception in that respect. There is a whole chain of processes connected with introduction of new technologies in public organizations – from policy decisions, to implementation and thereafter every day-practice. Political scientists are often interested in policy and implementation, but more seldom about how technology and organization interacts with each other. In this paper, I will argue for that we – in order to be able to study the introduction of new technology in public organizations – need to use theoretical concepts concerning all three areas of policy, implementation and practice, and also acknowledge the fact that they are linked together. Illustrating this theoretical discussion, results from a case study in a Swedish health care organization are used. The analysis concerns how e-government is constructed through the processes of policy, implementation and practice in the specific case. The overall conclusions are that the construction of e-government, from national policies to the everyday use of ICT systems, takes place in several steps and that the framework presented in this paper can guide us in the understanding of these construction processes.

A growing number of areas in our lives are nowadays integrated with ICT solutions of different kinds. Therefore, there is an increased expectation on public authorities to make information and service more available through ICT. The transformation of public administration into e-administration is a major challenge to local government.

In 2008 the Swedish government launched a comprehensive policy on e-government. The policy aims to develop a modern public e-administration making it “as simple as possible for as many as possible”. In spite of the local and regional autonomy in Sweden, most authorities relate to this policy. Furthermore, e-administration systems are often developed by private firms in close collaboration with the central administration of the public authority. However, private and public organisations operate from different aims and logics, which are not always compatible.

General theories on implementation indicate that implementation processes require that someone actively carries out the idea and acts as a driving force within the public administration. I will argue that those who do so can be seen as social entrepreneurs, since they promote and internalize new policies and their practical implications in the organisation.

The aim of the paper is to analyse the implementation of an innovation in public health care administration, by focusing on the social entrepreneurs who combine the public and private spheres of an organisation.

In the case study the social entrepreneurs appear to be crucial for the implementation process. They believe in the advantages of the innovation, they make the innovation and usability of it meaningful for others in the public administration, and by using different tools they make sure that it becomes properly introduced. In our case, the central administrators are important in bringing together technical and social demands as well as private and public spheres.

13.

Andréasson, Ester

Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, Political Science. Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Local health care centres (publicly funded primary health care) play an important role for most people. This is where the citizens are most likely to have their first contact with the health care system if they get ill or injured; this is where different groups of chronics go to do their routine check ups and where elderly citizens get qualified medical care. The health care centres also often include a child health centre, where parents regularly bring their small children so that the medical staff can give insurance that the children are growing and developing the way they should. The health care centres are an important part of the infrastructure in communities. In small villages, the staff is also quite familiar with the patients they give service to. Recently most local health care centres have improved their use of informatics for administration and patient contacts.

Our field studies of community health care centres concern the use of a new electronic system for patient’s medical records in a health care organisation. This ICT solution brings that the medical records are now tied to the patient, rather than to a specific health care unit. This means that the patient’s medical records are always available for the staff at any of the units within the health care organisation. Thereby, the staff at a local health care centre has faster and more complete access to medical information than before, which means that they can be more efficient and professional in care giving and contribute better.

Our results indicate that the new electronic medical records makes physical place less important in order to give qualitative care, while they at the same time strengthens the health care centres central role in the community. An indication is that there is a potential for even more empowerment of the local community and people’s connectedness to the community.

The concluding impression is that community informatics in the health care sector is characterized by a paradox. It works in different directions at the same time: It expands the community in the sense that the flow of medical information increase, but at the same time it strengthens the community as a physical place since the health care centres gets an even stronger role. The aim of this paper is to verify this paradox from a Swedish case study and discuss its general and even global implications on community informatics in the health care sector. The preliminary conclusion is that small communities still can become empowered by the use of new health care informatics.

20.

Arce, Israel

Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, Political Science.

After the use of the first nuclear weapons, during World War II, the world changed forever, as the balance of military power would no longer by measured by the amount of conventional weapons each state possesses. Alongside this, the world experienced a crude awakening to the catastrophic costs, for the environment and in terms of human misery, that the use of these armaments involved. In order to tackle the spreading of these weapons, with the aim to prevent further tragedies, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime (NNPR) begun to develop in the mid 1950s. Since then, the regime, together with its cornerstone, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), have produced outstanding achievements in the non-proliferation field, as well as being the source of glaring disappointments and tensions among states to the present day.

It is in this context that the following document uses regime theory, the framework that focuses on the study of why and how states decide to cooperate with each other, to present an analysis of the NNPR, understood as a series of overlapping, interlocking and mutually reinforcing agreements and mechanisms on the issue-area of nuclear activities among nations.

The study is driven by two research questions: 1) How can regime theory explain the longevity and broad acceptance of the NNPR/ NPT and what is its current state after the 2015 Review Conference?; 2) From the point of view of regime theory, in which way would an international effort towards demilitarisation be beneficial for the fulfilment of Art VI of the NPT, regarding nuclear disarmament? The research achieves the objective of deepening the comprehension around the success and broad acceptance of the NNPR and the NPT, while presenting a plausible alternative for an agreement on nuclear disarmament that could involve demilitarisation. This alternative is elaborated through a pathway suggested with the use of regime theory, specifically, with the use of the weak cognitivist approach.

This thesis examine if social voluntary organisations are independent or if they are being regulated by the public sector. We ask how free the organisations are since they get so much support and funding from the municipality. This is examined by looking at the homogenisation pressure, which means that organisations are being exposed by a pressure to become more similar. The control that the municipality has over the organisations is another aspect in this paper. The study focuses on the relation between the municipality of Linköping and three social voluntary organisations and their characteristics. The theory about homogenisation pressure, developed by Staffan Johansson, is used to analyse if there is a tendency for the organisations to change their work because of the municipality. Whether the organisations are subject of control is analysed by using Kuhnle and Selle’s concept of nearness and dependence.

The study showed that particularly financial support and contact are of importance when it comes to whether the organisations are being exposed to homogenisation pressure and control or not. An important aspect that affects these channels of integration is the attitude of the municipality. With an attitude of not wanting to affect the organisations the financing and integration tend to lead to understanding of the organisations instead of homogenisation pressure and control. The role of the organisation is also of importance. A role as a complement towards the municipality has less pressure to change while the risk is higher for an organisation that works as a replacement.

The conventional monetary market oriented economic view of development is the dominant approach of development, despite its shortcomings and inability to include social and environmental aspects into long term processes of change. Essential values are often concealed or even excluded in conventional monetary analyses, which are fundamental for integrated sustainable livelihoods.Using a time-spatial perspective, building on Hägerstrand’s time-geography, this article aims to elaborate upon an alternative conceptual development approach. The time-spatial model open for an alternative constructive approach to analyze and physically anchoring socio-economic and ecological processes extended over time. Such a view thereby contrasts and reaches beyond the conventional monetary market growth strategy.Combining the conceptual discussion with empirical illustrations from rural livelihoods in Sweden, the article highlight new alternative political-economic analytical tools and strategies to achieve sustainable sound integrated socio-, economic-, and ecological development processes.

This book highlights the role of entrepreneurship, social capital and governance for regional economic development. In recent decades, many researchers have claimed that entrepreneurship is the most critical factor in sustaining regional economic growth. However, most entrepreneurship research is undertaken without considering the fundamental importance of the regional context. Other research has emphasized the role of social capital but there are substantial problems in empirically relating measures of social capital to regional economic development.

The expert contributors to this work highlight the role of governance in regional growth, an area that has so far been relatively under-researched, underpinning their findings with new theoretical and empirical evidence. They conclude that the relationship between entrepreneurship, social capital and governance in factors affecting regional economic development are complex and interdependent, and that to influence these factors and the relationship between them, policymakers must have a long-term perspective and be both patient and persistent in their efforts.

This enlightening book will be of great interest to academics, students and researchers across a range of fields including regional science, regional economics, economic geography, regional planning, public policy, entrepreneurship, political science and economic sociology. Policymakers involved in regional policymaking from national down to regional and local levels will also find the book to be an illuminating read.

25.

Assmo, Per

et al.

University West, Trollhättan, Sweden.

Wihlborg, Elin

Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, Political Science. Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

A popular trend in today’s development debate is to highlight arguments favouring local production, local entrepreneurship, or the importance of buying local. But what do we actually mean when we talk about the term “local”. Similar to other popular development terms, the concept “local” seems to be used in a wide variety of meanings and interpretations. Furthermore, the term “local” is also often connected as an important component in the perhaps even more vague argumentations for sustainable development.

The conventional view of development, based on economic growth, promotes expansion in space and compression in time – a global market economy. This dominant technical-economic approach largely use general technological and institutional policies and solutions more suitable for urban large-scale structures. Such structures and policies thereby tend to hamper what often is seen as local development.

Initially, the article discusses the term “local” using a geographical time-spatial conceptual approach. With the use of empirical field studies focusing on rural local development in Sweden, the article thereafter apply the approach in an analytical framework to clarify and identify the meaning(s) of the term local, and identify the possibilities and constraints of processes of change in time and space – e.g. local development. In so doing, the time-spatial approach provide a possibility to identify the potential for alternative interwoven applicable local policy instruments and strategies.

26.

Assmo, Per

et al.

Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, Political Science. Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Wihlborg, Elin

Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, Political Science. Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

There is a common decrease in services in rural areas around the world. This is not at least the case regarding public services, since the decreasing population also decreases the resources available for local public services. The aim of this article is to critically analyse challenges of New Public Management in a rural area community in Sweden to discuss the complex double management role (as employer and as service provider) of the rural municipality. The core of NPM is based on a private sector ethos and is thus also heavily influenced by corporate sector techniques and management. In this paradigm cost effectiveness and efficiency become the dominant considerations for how the state is run. It becomes even more problematic in rural areas without a critical mass of customers (former citizens) and additional costs for transportation. This is illustrated by a discussion of local schools. The analysis shows that even non-monetary resources should be taken into account to reach legitimate policy changes in rural communities. This opens for a creative discussion on time-spatial localized policy-making including extending the interpretations of local resources.

The global markel economy is built on a political institutional arrangement promoting free and open trade. The existing natural and human resources make up the basis for all produclive activilies. The dominating economy strive to reach efficient use of human and natural resources, by enhancing processes of spatial expansion and time-compression.

The conceptual argument in this paper takes its starting point in Hägerstrand's traditional time-space mode!. lt illustrates two conflicting perspectives the global markel economic horizontal norm (expansion in space, compression in time) and the environmental sustainable vertical processes (expansion over lime in limiled spaces). These two norms head in different directions and environmental sustainability is therefore conflicting with the common meaning of economic development.

In a time-spatial perspective, a sustainable use of resources is spatially limited, and extended over time. A development process, in terms of environmental sustainability, relies on local resource use and extension in time, to limit the use of externa! input of energy. This process is the opposile to what today is seen as economic development (growth) that compresses time and expands in space, to reach the most favourable comparative advantages.

The monetary market economy is a political construction. What activities and resources that are given a price on the markel depend on the institutional arrangements of property rights, prices and legal structures. Our conceptual conclusion is that the current political construction of the economy is "in-complete"and thus creates and fosters a mis-match with environmental pre-condilions. The political system can have the capacity to use the tools and power to harmonise economic development with environmental sustainability, locally, nationally and globally.

29.

Assmo, Per

et al.

Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, Political Science. Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Wihlborg, Elin

Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, Political Science. Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Water resources planning and management and the development of appropriate policies requires methodologies and tools that are able to support systematic, integrative and multidisciplinary assessments at various scales. It also requires the quantification of various uncertainties in both data and models, and the incorporation of stakeholders participation and institutional mechanisms into the various tools and risk assessment methodologies, to help decision makers understand and evaluate alternative measures and decisions. This requirement has been explicitly recognised in the context of the European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD). This book is one of the concrete outcomes of the Harmoni-CA concerted action (supported by the European Commission). It provides a framework for model-supported participatory planning of measures at various river basin scales and practical guidance to water managers and other interested stakeholders on the model-supported implementation of the WFD. The objective of the book is to offer guidance to water managers on the model-supported implementation of the Water Framework Directive at the level of a river basin district and at other levels (such as sub-basins, national, or international scale in the case of international river basins). It should help water managers to better understand how models may be used for planning purposes, while special attention is given to the problem of predicting an uncertain future, one very likely to differ from the present. Six case studies from different parts of Europe are provided to illustrate the practical applicability of the planning framework in the WFD implementation. They are very important for illustrating how concepts from earlier parts of the document are applied to real-world situations. The case studies cover several aspects of mesoscale river basin management, water quantity and quality issues, and the role of modelling, with two case studies located in pilot river basins. This text is intended for use by water managers and hydrologists engaged in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive.

32.

Bengtsson, Kristofer

Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, Political Science.

In the literature on political economy and public choice, it is typically assumed that government size correlates positively with public corruption. The empirical literature, however, is inconclusive, owing to both measurement problems and endogeneity. This paper creates a corruption index based on original data from a survey covering top politicians and civil servants in all Swedish municipalities. The effect of more politicians on corruption problems is analyzed using discontinuities in the required minimum size of local councils. Despite the fact that Sweden consistently has been ranked among the least corrupt countries in the world, the survey suggest that non-trivial corruption problems are present in Sweden. Municipalities with more local council seats have more reported corruption problems, and the regression discontinuity design suggests that the effect is causal.

Social trust is linked to many desirable economic and social outcomes. Using new data from a representative sample of 2668 Swedish expatriates, we examine the robustness of high social trust in countries with different levels of institutional quality. The results suggest that individual trust decreases with length of stay in countries with high corruption and low rule of law. The effect is relatively small and driven by expatriates who were aged 30 years or below upon arrival to the new country. While other studies have found that trust among migrants adapts to destination country trust levels, we find that after the (approximate) age of 30, high trust is a sticky personality trait. The results are robust to controlling for a large array of individual characteristics (including age) and support the view that social trust is sensitive to events that occur early in life.

It is Swedish government policy to use information and communication technologies to increase sustainability. This has implications for planning and local organization of communities. In the municipalities where most public services are provided, there are growing numbers of local contact centres (CCs) aiming to meet citizens’ needs for information and coordination of public services. The CCs localize public services and combine different services into a one-stop practice focusing on needs and demands of individual citizens and their unique situations. The municipalities hereby have to plan for service provision in new ways to meet more individualized needs that are also in line with improved sustainability. CCs are both local offices and advanced services on-line, as e-governmental services. E-government could be considered fast government, but this article aims to turn that obvious first impression upside down and discuss how e-government can slow down and make services more local, personalized and sustainable. Theoretically we take off from a time-geographical modelling of slow processes that has implication for slower, more sustainable development. Based on in-depth case studies of municipal CCs we argue that they are tools towards improved sustainability and localism, and that they are “slowing up” administrative processes. In particular, we point out that e-government has a potential to plan for, and promote, sustainability and slow local development.

This study aims to elaborate on the meanings of policy entrepreneurs and through the conceptualisation analysing implementation of local municipal contact centres – a Swedish local e-governmental initiative. The paper builds on qualitative case studies including interviews, observations and document analysis, all analysed through the perspective of policy entrepreneurs. Local policies are implemented in relation to local cultures, norms and economic structures. The networked governance structure demands entrepreneurial actors to combine resources and interests into a change. Here we identified both theoretically and practical, two types of such entrepreneurial actors. The issue entrepreneur focuses on the issue as such and focuses on the solution to a single problem. The political entrepreneur, on the other hand, focuses on core values and long term structural changes. The emerging networked governance structure asks for improved knowledge on policy entrepreneurship both for analytical and practical improvements. The findings may provide useful information for municipal e-government planning specifically when planning for implementing contact centres. The study enriches the existing literature on policy entrepreneurs in networks expanding the roles to include also local e-government contexts.

39.

Bernhard, Iréne

et al.

University West, Trollhättan, Sweden.

Wihlborg, Elin

Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, Political Science. Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Electconic applications for public administration and contacts between citizens and governments are developing worldwide. E-government is a concept tbat includes all forms of electronic applications used by govemmental bodies; e-services are those used for services to citizens, private firms and organizations. European Union ministers unanimously agreed on a declaration for e-government in 2009, aiming to 'use eGovemment to increase tbeir efficiency and effectiveness and to constantly improve public services in a way that caters for users' different needs and maximizes public value' (Ministerial Declaration on e-government, 2009). The policy illustrates great optimism for e-government in terms of efficiency and citizen value. However, wben implemented, there are great demands placed on professionals in public administration to take up and realize tbese expectations. They have the possibility to act as entrepreneurs, be creative and break organizational norms and boundaries, which is the focus ofthis chapter.

There are increased expectations about the potential of e-govemance to meet tbe still basic demands of sustained efficiency and democracy in public administration. The use of information technology (IT) is developed in close interplay between the organizational and technical components of a socio-technical network (Hughes, 1983). Public policy and administration also develop in relation to late modernization and globalization, and the increased use of IT is integrated in many other processes of change. Thus, few changes cao be related to the use of new technology a lone. E-government applications provided through technical and organizational applications are usually developed and designed to address a specific problem or issue in public administration. The technological innovations are thus not the primary focus; the aim is the problems dealt with by public administration (Wihlborg, 2000).

E-government development and the implementation of innovations thus take place in the crossing points between technology and professionals in administration. The cases we use to illustrate this here concern regional student counseling and applications to upper secondary schools in Sweden. The Swedish government has worked extensively on e-government, and there are several local and regional initiatives intended to increase the use of IT and the provision of broadband infrastructures (SOU, I 999; 2002; 2008). For 3 years (2003- 2005), the government had a special delegation, The 2417 Agency Delegation, to promote and stimulate the development and use of public e-services (SOU, 2004). Currently a Swedish governmental e-delegation reaching over all public administration has been formed to promote integration and efficiency, similar to the British arrangements (Dunleavy et al., 2007; Government Gateway, 2010). One example of this e-government development toward reforming the public sector is that several Swedish municipalities have implemented customer centers (see for example Bernhard, 2010).

The aim of this chapter is firstly to conceptualize a framework of innovative e-governance into e-service, e-administration and e-democracy as different contexts for entrepreneurial behavior, and secondly to use the approach to analyse and compare the implementation of the innovations of the common application systems for upper secondary schools in two Swedish regions.

40.

Bernhard, Iréne

et al.

Högskolan Väst, Trollhättan, Sweden.

Wihlborg, Elin

Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, Political Science. Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

The emerging information society challenges relations between public agencies and citizens in many ways. Providing e-services on the Internet and using other forms of information and communication technologies are basic components of e-government. E-services as such are innovations – even if the service itself existed before – as they are a new way of producing and organizing the service. For secure use and successful implementation of innovations in public contexts, the innovation must be considered legitimate and related to policies. The European Union and all other levels of government form policies, which are translated among the various levels to manage the useful, secure praxis of e-services. Translation in organisational terms takes place across governmental levels in the multi-level governance chain and secondarily from technical to administrative settings. Since the Swedish public administration relies on a dual steering approach, with strong, constitutionally mandated regional and local autonomy, such policies cannot be forced onto regional and local public agencies. Instead, European and national policy statements become soft policy instruments in the local context, and their implications rely on local uptake in the specific setting and on the competencies of the professionals in local public administration. Since this is a new, emerging field of innovative policy and practice, our analysis will build on an inductive methodological approach. The theoretical framework of policy and technology translation allows inclusion of this broad process of changes. Our focus here on the translation process is to highlight translations both across levels in multi-level settings and as constructions of meanings of security. The conclusion is that the organizational settings of multi-level governance are greater constraints than new technology for implementation of public e-services.

41.

Berry, Martin

Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, Political Science. Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Ydre municipality is the smallest in the province of Östergötland, Sweden. It is home to approximately 3700 people and the municipality is struggling with organizational and economical problems due to its diminishing and increasingly elderly population. Because of its organizational and economical problems Ydre municipality is resolutely working to change and improve the terms and conditions of living and working in Ydre. This work has led to more than a decade with participatory democratic experiments meant to enhance citizens participation and interest in local politics.

In this licentiate thesis two participatory democratic experiments are studied by abductive methods. The experiments are citizen dialogues in 2009 and local planning and development processes in 2010. The aim of the study is to show and analyze if and how the participatory democratic experiments influenced the democratic decision-making within Ydre municipality.

The citizen dialogues and the local planning and development processes are analyzed by using a structure-agency perspective. By using this perspective the deeper political meaning and consequences of territorial attachment and strong local identities in Ydre are revealed.

The two participatory democratic experiments were designed differently and hence had different democratic effect. The need for careful planning, thorough, explicit and consequent communication of the democratic purpose of participatory democratic processes is one of the studies most clear-cut results. The study also shows how Ydre municipality, and other Swedish rural municipalities as well, could benefit from incorporating the widespread territorial attachment amongst its citizen in participatory democratic processes.

“The million programme”, an ambitious housing programme, took place in Sweden between the years 1965-1974. During this period 1006000 dwellings were built, which represents about a quarter of the contemporary housing stock in Sweden. The programme was due to a strong political will from the Social democratic party to erase the demand surplus on housing that had existed in Sweden until then. The production of the housing took place in the outskirts of the cities and was based on ideas of functionalism and scale economy. Despite extensive social engineering no one had been able to foresee that after a couple of years many of the tenants moved away from the new residential areas, choosing instead to live in single-family, detached houses. Those who were left behind were mostly families of low socioeconomic status. Most Swedish medium sized cities still have a residential area from this period. These areas are nowadays often characterized by a lot of passing tenants, high unemployment and unhealthy rate. Few of the residents visit the polls on election day. Many politicians argue that the socioeconomic problems in these areas can be improved by restorement or deconstruction of housing. Others mean that in order to solve the socioeconomic problems in these areas you have to tackle the macroeconomic problems in modern society. Few of the proposals revolve around social capital and the ideas that well-known political scientists have about the importance for wellbeing in societies. The aim of this essay is therefore to qualitatively describe the social capital in a residential area built as a part of the million programme in the town Linköping and see how it can contribute to the democratic process. Hopefully our conclusions can be generalized to other similar residential areas in Sweden. The description of the social capital consists of the tellings of county officials and representatives of local associations. The information they have provided was analyzed with the help of theorists Robert D. Putnam, Bo Rothstein and James S. Coleman. We conclude that there exist substantial variations in the social capital in the residential area that we have studied. There exists an extensive amount of what Putnam calls bonding social capital in the neighbourhood, but there is also a lack of bridging social capital that could significantly improve the democratic process in the area. This is due to ethnic groupings and great numbers of passing residents which makes investments in social capital irrational for the individual. Specific political support for these residential areas can therefore be motivated.

Integrated Assessment for Water Framework Directive Implementation: Data, Economic and Human Dimension - Volume 2 is a concrete outcome from the Harmoni-CA concerted action as part of a 4-volume series of Guidance Reports that guide water professionals through the implementation process of the Water Framework Directive, with a focus on the use of ICT-tools (and in particular modelling). They are complementary to the Guidance Documents produced by the EU Directorate General for Environment. Water resources planning and management and the development of appropriate policies require methodologies and tools that are able to support systematic, integrative and multidisciplinary assessments at various scales. It also requires the quantification of various uncertainties in both data and models, and the incorporation of stakeholders participation and institutional mechanisms into the various tools and risk assessment methodologies, to help decision makers understand and evaluate alternative measures and decisions.

The European common currency, the euro, is in crisis. Bad news about indebted governments and economic recession has continuously outperformed itself since 2009/2010 and kept the European Union and its member states in suspense. It is up to them to combat the crisis. This master thesis deals with the European sovereign debt crisis (“euro crisis”) and tries to allow a better understanding of how the crisis has been managed by governments at the European level. A special focus is put on decision-making in the crisis, posing the research question “How can the decision-making of the EU in the euro crisis be understood?”. To solve this research problem, three different approaches are applied: liberal intergovernmentalism, historical institutionalism and cognitive institutionalism. Each of them adds different aspects to the analysis, gives answers from its respective point of view and thereby widens the overall picture that evolves. The design of the thesis is a case study with the euro crisis as a special case of decision-making and crisis management. Official documents and statements, expert interviews, scholastic, expert, and journalistic analyses are employed as basic research material. It has been uncovered that, powerful states, especially Germany and France, have bargaining advantages during crisis decision-making. However, the decision-making is constrained by institutional aspects (rules, norms and values). Stress factors deriving from the crisis situation facilitate group dynamics that appeared at least partially during the ongoing crisis.